The goal of the proposed study is to identify childhood risk factors that contribute to the development of obesity, with the long-term objective of informing the design of targeted prevention/intervention efforts that could be subjected to randomized trials. Past longitudinal research has established a strong, consistent, inverse relation between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity in adulthood. Explanations for this relation are not fully known. This study will test the hypothesis that childhood SES operates through parents' socialization of children's eating behavior to influence dietary habits and weight status in young adulthood. Archived data from the Child Development Project (CDP; PIs: KA Dodge, J.E. Bates, & G.S. Pettit) will be re-coded and re-analyzed in this study. The CDP is an ongoing longitudinal investigation of a community sample of 585 males and females from diverse backgrounds who have been assessed annually since age 5 and who will turn age 23 in 2006; retention rate is 84%. When children were age five, 154 of the 585 families were selected to be observed for two 2-hour sessions that included a family meal; sub-sample retention rate is 89%. Detailed transcriptions of observations of parent-child exchanges will be coded using a new scheme that will allow veridical description of variations in structure and parent-child processes in the childhood mealtime environment (CME). Specific aims are to: (1) apply qualitative direct-observation methodology to develop a theoretical model of the structure (e.g. parental presence, TV on) and parent-child interaction processes (e.g., coercive parental control; food rewards) in the CME; (2) examine the empirical relation between childhood SES and structure and process in the CME, and between childhood SES and dietary patterns and body mass index (BMI) in young adulthood; (3) test the hypothesis that CME structure and process variables mediate the association between childhood SES and dietary patterns and BMI in young adulthood; and (4) examine potential moderators and covariates of the relation between childhood SES, CME, and young adult dietary patterns and BMI. Moderators to be tested include child/parent gender and family structure. Covariates to be tested include parent disciplinary style, and parent perception of child overweight and overeating. This research will identify psychosocial mechanisms through which low SES places children at high risk for obesity and will inform the design of intervention programs to reduce such risk. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]